A 1981 letter from Sir Robert Armstrong then cabinet secretary, to Clive Whitmore, private secretary, said the zoo was undergoing “one of their periodic crises” and feared adult ticket prices would have to rise from £2.80 to £3.50 unless they were bailed out.

Chia Chia, London Zoo's panda.Credit:
The Telegraph

But the note also revealed that Lord Zuckerman wanted help to transport London’s male panda, Chia Chia, to the Smithsonian Institute in Washington, where it would mate with a female panda donated by the Chinese people.

“Lord Zuckerman sees this as a signal demonstration of the special relationship, and would be very happy to time the announcement of the loan or the delivery of the panda in any way that the Prime Minister thought would be most likely to benefit Anglo-American relations; he even suggested that the Prime Minister might like to take the panda in back of her Concorde when she goes to Washington next week.”

His idea left Mrs Thatcher unimpressed. Writing in the margin of the note she declared: “I am not taking a panda with me! Pandas and politicians are not happy omens!”

Mr Whitmore wrote back explaining that Mrs Thatcher had read the suggestion “with some interest and amusement”.

“She has gone on to say that Lord Zuckerman knows more about these things than she does and she is sure that he can arrange these things”.